Shortly after starting his term as the new administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Rajiv Shah initiated his own reform agenda. Dubbed USAID Forward, the initiative hinges on three underlying principles:
▪ Deliver results on a meaningful scale through a strengthened USAID.
▪ Promote sustainable development through high-impact partnerships.
▪ Identify and scale up innovative, breakthrough solutions to intractable development problems.
Of these three points, the push to develop stronger partnerships has drawn the most attention from the development community, as it entails increasing USAID engagement with local implementers in partner countries. In sync with many leading voices in the U.S development community, USAID officials made the case that the premier U.S. aid agency must increase its investments in local institutions in order to build local capacity and strengthen country ownership.
About the author
Ezekiel Carlo Orlina
Ezekiel is a Senior Development Analyst and Team Leader at Devex. His primary role is monitoring and reporting on project opportunities and trends of leading multilateral and bilateral donor agencies. A graduate of Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Political Science, Ezekiel has extensive global development research experience having also worked at the World Youth Alliance, Asia and the Pacific (WYAAP).
